Save the Best for Last
by Robina Snyder
Summary: Darcy and Loki try to figure out how to say goodbye


"I'm tired Loki, I'm just tired," Darcy murmured, pressed into her husband's arms. Loki swallowed, treading his fingers through Darcy's hair, currently short and spiky. Darcy changed a lot, and yet she'd stayed the exact same. It was true with all people really. You didn't really change, just became a variation on what you had been before. Darcy was always the same: very humorous, very tunnel minded, and very human. Even Iddun's apples couldn't take that beautiful humanity away from her.

"Take a nap then," Loki muttered.

Darcy's lips twitched in an almost smile. "It's not what I meant."

"I know, I just wish it was," Loki murmured, pressing his lips to Darcy's brow.

"I'm sorry," Darcy said. She sounded so sad.

"Don't be," He said. "You gave me two thousand years and twins, That's a lot for one mortal."

"I thought I'd just… I don't know, last longer," she said, laying back in their bed. "Forever seemed so great when I made the vows, but now it just seems like…"

"Forever," Loki supplied.

"Yeah, long, long time," she said. He wondered when she'd gotten so tired that even speaking seemed like too much work. He almost couldn't remember the mile a minute speech she'd had when they'd first met. Now when she spoke it was for something important only.

"You lasted 200% longer than a mortal should. Don't feel bad," Loki told her.

"Jane's still going strong," Darcy pointed out, pouting a little. Loki couldn't help the smile that touched his lips.

"She took to magic."

"Does that make it easier?" Darcy asked.

"She's a very driven woman, driven to discovery, driven to learn more, almost more drive than sense. In exchange she has spent less time with her family than you have, and she will keep doing so."

"But she'll be here."

"It's the price you pay," Loki said, squeezing his wife's hand. "The… concentration is the same, but the time is different. You've spent all these years giving us as much time and love as you could. You gave yourself. It's okay to think of yourself."

"I do that a lot Loki, I don't need you permission," Darcy said, sticking her tongue out. He laughed. He could see the girl she'd been when they'd first met. She'd always had the same fire, but she'd aged so much. Humans were not made to last 2000 years. They put so much energy into their lives and so they burnt out fast. Asgardians didn't live like that, and so they lasted. Darcy had been the most Human human-being he'd ever met. She lived with so much energy, and had kept living like that for far too long. He got to enjoy every minute of it.

"Well, I'm giving you my permission anyway," he said, sticking his tongue out in return. Darcy laughed. She leaned in and caught his tongue with her lips, dragging him into a kiss. They stayed that way for a few moments, caught up in the moment and the memory of every kiss they'd ever shared.

"I'm leaving you alone Loki, for now until forever," she said once she pulled away. She looked so sad.

"I have our children," Loki said. "And Thor, even Jane, and mother."

"And they all have other people. We had just each other for a long time. I'm just… I can't anymore, I just can't. I've been living breathe to breathe for a century and I can't anymore, I just can't." Her voice started to get louder and more panicked with each syllable.

"Shh, shhh," Loki soothed, dragging her tighter against his chest, slowly rubbing her back. They'd both aged in those years, not too much, but they looked so much more adult than they had before. But Darcy seemed the oldest of the two of them. Loki wondered if he'd ever be able to forgive himself for his selfishness. He should have let her go five hundred years ago when her speech started to slow. He should have let her go when he realized how much he cared about her.

"I can't anymore, please don't make me. It's just too much for me to bare anymore," she whispered.

"I know," Loki said softly.

"What do we do now?" Darcy asked. She spoke with that quiet crankiness she always got when she was exhausted but not yet allowed to sleep.

"You give me a kiss and a hug and you say goodbye. I do the rest, you just rest."

"I'm so sorry, I am, I am."

"Enough, no more apologizing, just kiss me," Loki ordered.

Darcy grabbed him by his ears, dragging him down on top of her with all of her energy. She devoured his mouth, devoured him. There was no holding back, there was no timidity. This was the end and she gave everything. Their arms wrapped around each other and held on with all their strength.

Darcy's hands scratched at the bare flesh on Loki's back, and he ripped away her night dress. They began to devour each other with more desperation than any time Loki had disappeared or after any fight, or even after the times they broke up.

In the morning Loki would be sore and bruised and cut up. He gave everything as she gave everything. They explored each other like well worn and well loved paths, though discovering everything they loved all over again. Loki laughed when Darcy started to sing that stupid earth song about saving the best of last. No one remembered it but her and when she was gone it would fade away forever.

They rode each other until light filtered into the room and Darcy's body finally gave into exhaustion and slipped into sleep. Loki held her in his arms. He was exhausted too, but he didn't allow himself to sleep. Her warm body lay against his. He reached into his magic, slipping easily into his body. It was such a siply thing to just stop her heart.

He held her until he could no longer feel warmth from her body. When even the illusion of life was gone he stood, using magic to clean the bed and to dress Darcy's body. He dressed without magic, and without looking at the bed. Quietly he walked out, shutting the door carefully as if to keep from waking his wife. He needed to inform Thor of what happened. He needed to know the truth before finding a suitable punishment for killing the wife of the brother of the King.

* * *

A/N:

I have never in my life had an OTP, but I think I have one… I just love, love, love Loki/Darcy. I adore the pairing so much that I really hope that it becomes cannon in Thor 2… I just want it!

So I decided to write this… because I also have problems with the idea of living for forever, and I wanted to deal with that… so at the Con this weekend and decided to write. So yeah ,stuff.


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